United by Citizen Merits
馨草园-108246 05/11 37754.0/1
费城/抱香书生
United by Citizen Merits
We have heard enough of the provocative attack and finger-pointing in the 2016 presidential election campaigns, and the topics range from building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico to allowing people use restrooms based on their psychological gender identity, and from punishing women for abortion to extending Obamacare to illegal immigrants (or residents “without legal permission”, to be more politically correct.) As supporters and opponents are getting more and more emotional and personal, I don't see any constructive consensus in building but deeper and deeper division, and even hatred spreading.
In the meanwhile, we see, in some other countries (and potentially future world powers) that hard-working people are building advanced infrastructures every day, that knowledge-thirty students are studying hard to get them more prepared and qualified for the new area, and that ambitious entrepreneurs are pursuing their dreams via creative advances in world economy platform.
Yet we are still spending time beating bushes and splitting society. Rampant liberalism and social welfarism are confronted by the similarly radical Isolationism and Supremacism, which not only cannot fix many of the the problems the nation is having, but divides the country further by the spreading irrationalism and hatred.
But what are the most imminent challenge our country is facing as a nation right now? It is the vitality and competitiveness of our economy, without which many of our lifestyles and welfare will be luxury. Yeah, we may still afford to debate, blame, and divide for now, but probably not for long, if we don’t have the vision and fail to feel the pressure from the inevitable globalization.
To some extent, we are at another critical historical moment with the overarching question: which direction will the country choose to go in the next decade?
Why don't we think not for a party, not for s single race, and not for a single class , but focus on what qualities and merits our people, as US citizens, should own, or should be encouraged to own, which are the cornerstone of the developmental momentum of our economy? Why don't we talk about what policies will encourage our citizens to maintain or obtain the commonly desired qualities and merits?
Yes, we should be focusing on what qualities and merits all US citizens and those who wish to become US citizens should have, and our policies should be based on these qualities and merits that our country’s future relies on, not by the racial, classical, or ideological division. We should have one set of standards under one nation: hard-working, law-abiding, competitiveness, and contribution.
Looking back in history, the prosperity of the United States has never been just the natural result of the spirit of liberty and democracy, the belief that all men are born equal, or the prescient constitution and political system. It also has a lot to do with the great, hard-working people with the spirit of sacrifice and contribution. The very early pilgrims had the quality. The founding fathers and the people fighting for independence had the quality. The Northerners and Southerners, especially after the unfortunate trauma of the civil war, had the quality. The people swamped in to the Wild West for better fortune had the quality. The Chinese laborers who built the transcontinental railroads had the quality. The immigrants from all over the world who contributed tremendously to the growth of the economy had the quality. The generations who experienced the great depression had the quality. The generations who were inspired by formal president Kennedy (aka, ‘ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country’) had the quality. Now, it is time for all people of the country to unite again to show similar qualities: the will to work hard, to learn hard, to better prepare oneself for the changing world, and to contribute.
We are a country of many cultures, ethnic groups, religions, and people with all different backgrounds. We used to be called the Melting Pot, which we are so proud of and which certainly contributed to the vitality and prosperity of this country. Our country used to be called the land of promise, meaning any people on this land can find an opportunity to achieve their dreams in this passionate, free, and equal land. Yet, granted all the opportunities, no dream can become true without hard-working. The boost of our economy relies on hard working people. Our welfares come from hard working people. The country, no matter how great the ideology make sound, will eventually demonstrate the world-leading prosperity to be convincing that our political system and our upholding of the values of freedom and democracy are the foundation of all, as we did before.
Therefore, when today we are seriously facing the challenges from globalization and the bottleneck of our own economic growth, we need to be united, not divided. We need to reach some important consensus and make our policies based on these consensus.
Our consensus should be on the citizen qualities, such as diligence, law-abiding, willing to improve, ready to face competition, and willing to contribute.
Our policies should be to encourage and reward, in proportion, the citizens who own these qualities.
This country should be a land of promise, as it has been, for those who appreciate the greatness of this country and who are willing to work hard and contribute. Our country should not judge people by color, belief, wealth, class, and gender, but by qualities and merits. As Americans, we should be measured by the same set of standards that are universally deemed as good for individual and for the united country as a whole.
One nation, united by same values and standards.
